News

Ecodan air source heat pumps have all gained the A++ rating under the new European Energy Related Products (ErP) Directive legislation for heating products, Mitsubishi Electric announced today.

All commercial and residential water and space heaters will have to display an energy label to help property owners understand which are the most energy efficient products available to them. The new ErP rules mean that water and space heaters are now treated in the same way as refrigerators and washing machines which already have the labeling on them. ErP brings transparency on their energy efficiency.

The ErP labeling rules comes into force on 26th September. They cover hot water and heating products, such as electrical powered heaters, oil and gas boilers, water heaters and cylinders. Also included are solar thermal and heat pumps.

Mitsubishi Electric's James Timbs-Harrison explained:

“There are two parts to the ErP strategy which affect both manufacturers and installers and everyone involved needs to understand how this will change the heating market.

“Firstly, under what is called the EcoDesign regulations, manufacturers will need to produce energy-using products that meet stringent energy performance standards. Secondly, under Energy Labelling regulations, these products must be clearly labelled using a standard method so that consumers can make a direct comparison between individual products and different technologies”.

Labels help customers understand the efficiency of a product by a systems of bands. If relevant, the bands include the efficiency of hot water production, noise emissions and how much power they use.

James Timbs-Harrison continued:

“For heat pumps they will also indicate the three different climate zones within Europe which is important here because the UK is split between all three of these zones.

“We feel that this is now levelling the playing field for heating products which will allow consumers to see exactly how energy efficient the types of heating they choose are”.

The ErP legislation should have a big impact on how heating products are sold and used in the UK. The rules are already being implemented into the energy efficiency specifications of new buildings and government incentives for renewable technologies, such as the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive).

Furthermore, the ErP directive is now included in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

James Timbs-Harrison explained:

“This is important because in the past, the efficiency of a heating system was based on what is known as the coefficient of performance or COP”, explains Timbs-Harrison, “but this shows a single point in time, which is never a good indication on how efficiently it will perform all year round, whereas SCOP shows the performance across the different seasons and gives a much more accurate indication of efficiency”.